In the Blink of an Eye
by Night Strider
Summary: Kiyota Nobunaga gets a strange phone call from Shohoku's most glorified star. Somebody follows him in the dark, haunts his dreams, and listens to every breath he takes. But there are many of them out there...dark plot coming through.
1. Default Chapter

In the Blink of an Eye

Chapter I

Summary: Kiyota Nobunaga catches a strange gesture from Shohoku's most glorified star. Somebody follows him in the dark, haunts his dreams, and listens to every breath he takes. But there are many of them out there...dark plot coming through.

Disclaimer: I don't own SD boys, Inoue does. The events that follow are not included in the original plot but enjoy anyway.

Tuk tuk tuk tuk...something bangs against my windowpane. An irritating, harmless sound goes through the supposedly impenetrable glass straight to my eardrums. It's late and not a soul is awake in the corner of Izanaghi Street where our boring, conjugal home stands. But my eyelids refuse to perform their nightly functions. Darn, how many sheep must I count til I fall asleep?

The sound continues to barge in, resonating in inordinate intervals, sometimes long but most of the time incessant and unrelenting. I slowly slip out of my blanket and traipse quietly toward the room's opening where the sound seems to emanate from. I grab on the ledge and very slowly, peer outside to detect the culprit.

There it is; a slender Oak branch gives in to the wind's strength and hits the window glass every stroke inflicted. So that's just it. The wind won't let me sleep the night because I've been a bad boy. I stand watching the branch as if waiting for it to leave a tiny crack on my window.

Something moves stealthily out of the dark edge of the street. A tall, pitch figure strides soundlessly until it disappears completely, leaving no proof that it has been there. But at the moment it vanishes, the howling of the breeze stops dead. Creepy. Can any mortal creature command the flow of nature? What is it that I saw? A mythical sorcerer or a legendary magical entity?

I drift unconsciously into a bottomless drowsiness. A sudden giddiness sweeps over me; at last I'm falling asleep.

Next morning,

'You're late, Kiyota. Second one in two weeks. Can't get enough of floor polishing, can you?' says our captain, Shinichi Maki, The best high school basketballer in Kanagawa.

'Damn neighbors won't let me sleep. See this luggage around my sockets? I haven't slept a wink,' I say. How can a downright lie escape my throat at this moment? Don't I want help?

The practice ends. Still I can't contain my restlessness. I must tell someone about that figure and the dream I had last night.

'Jin, I need your help,' I ask Soichiro, the second year three pointer genius. He's one I can really talk to.

'On the rocks with coach and captain, aren't you? You should avoid getting late in practice games. It will help,' He says even before I say something.

'That I can manage. But,' I take a deep breath to gain momentum, 'this is something really important, it can change my life and game.'

A sudden stillness goes between us. He fixes a confused look on me and says,

'You're gay?'

'Heck, not that.'

'Then what?'

I start to narrate the unearthly scene I witnessed last night. Jin's eyes widen every time I come to the scary part.

'Then after I got a good sleep, a weird dream came over me. I don't know what it means but I saw the whole Shohoku team surround me in full circle. I felt cold naked lying there and when I tired to get up, the black figure I saw in the streets appeared from behind and chanted something that sounded like a...' I can't go on.

'Now, that's something funny. Where have you been getting into lately? Sure you haven't got into a fight recently?'

'No. Why d'you ask?'

'I don't know. Maybe somebody wants revenge and sets a curse on you,' Jin says teasingly.

'Not exactly funny. I don't believe in those hoaxes, alright.'

'Just joking. hehehe. I think you just fret too much about that figure you saw that's why you had a dream about it. Dreams don't mean anything, so don't worry yourself sick over them.' Jin says, this time, in a more serious tone.

'But who could the figure be?'

'Anyone who's crazy over you. A stalker most likely. No need to be troubled, he or she couldn't get as far as watching you in the showers,' Jin says reassuringly.

It got as far as reaching my dreams, how can it not follow me to the showers?

TBC 


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

Author's note: I don't know if I should be writing anything like this. You may say that this is just an utter silliness out of the diseased, aggregate system of my philosophical and literary tendencies, if I have any. But then again I write stupid stories, and most probably that's all there is in my inclination to put to words what I have in mind; to exploit the stupid mistakes people make in life. You may learn something or be poisoned by the insinuations of this work but heck, you can read or not.

Disclaimer: I don't own SD boys, Inoue does. The events that follow are not included in the original plot but enjoy anyway.

I walk home unaccompanied by any living presence in this lifeless, inviolable neighborhood where everyday is spent to wait for the next one. I was supposed to ride with Jin on his mountain bike but Maki said he has an important matter to discuss with Jin and coach. So damn him for leaving me in this pathetic state.

I reach the corner of the street and hop over the fence to gain access to the garage. It's empty. Mom and Dad aren't yet home from work as usual. I help myself to what's left inside the microwave and head upstairs to my room. It's not yet sun-down.

I lay quietly on my bed, silent as an empty casket in a funeral shop waiting to be purchased. Rrrrring...rrring...rrrring...the phone screams. I pick it up and there flows a cold, solid voice from the other line. It reminds me of a voice I've heard from a suspense movie, something that I wouldn't be accustomed of hearing in this world I'm in; that of a serial killer.

' 'afternoon, Nobunaga.' It says.

'Er, hi. Who's this?' I ask, trying hard to be polite.

'No one important. Just called to say hi.'

'Okay. So hi to you and goodbye,' I say, this time, without formality.

'I haven't said 'hi', boy. You can't hang up yet,'

'Oh yeah? Well, guess what? I am, and good day to you, loser.' I say, my finger already touching the receiver's switch.

'Wait wait wait wait! I've something to tell you, it's important,' The voice suddenly transforms itself into something very familiar, something I'm used to hearing everyday.

'JIN! What the fuck's that for? Calling like a maniac and mmmph, never mind...what is it?' I say, relieved to hear his voice.

'Hehehe. Well, let me apologize first for, well, that silly shit I just gave you. hehehe. I'm a real voice actor, ain't I?' Jin smirks annoyingly and goes on 'Anyway, somebody turned up today after you left. You wouldn't believe who it is,'

'I've no idea.'

'Kaede Rukawa.' he says.

'And?'

'Well, it wouldn't have been that weird if he didn't ask me for your number,'

'Interesting. Just as I want it; to have a long chat with Kaede Rukawa over the phone and have a girly good time,' I say with a biting tinge of sarcasm and boldness.

'Mmmmh. So you don't like him one bit, do you?'

'He's a complete bore, Soichiro. I wouldn't be surprised if a friggin' icebox turns out to be more exciting than that cocky prune slash super jock. And besides I've got enough friends to entertain without him,' I answer without any trace of hesitation. It's true, I wouldn't go near that Mr. Vixen; not if he's the last person to have a one on one game with.

'Never mind about making friends and all. But d'you think he's the one who stalks you?'

'Stalk me? I haven't said anything about a stalker, Jin, because I have none. I just said I saw somebody outside my window and that doesn't make him/her/it a stalker. He/she/it probably was just having a goodnight walk along Izanaghi Street and happened to pass by in front of my house.' I say. An impending fear suddenly takes possession of me at the recollection of the image. My trembling arm reaches for the lamp switch at the head of my bedside as the sun beyond my bedroom walls starts to be swallowed by the contour-less horizon. A few minutes more and no light will pass through my open window and I will be alone in this staid, colorless building.

'Yeah. But what you saw made a mighty impression on you, right? So you're now making a farthing out of it and say goodbye to it just like that, am I making sense here?'

'Yes. I'm maybe just scaring myself stiff bleating over what I saw. But if it was Rukawa coming after me at midnight, I say he's wasting his time because I leave my pants and shirt on when I sleep,' I say. Something tells me that that's what I want to be known but then, it's absolutely stupid and assuming to say something so rotten and shameless.

'Hahahaha. Wonder what he'd say if he hears it,' comes Jin's hearty laughter and, 'And hey, he might give you a ring sooner or later,'

'Come again?'

'I gave him your number. Scribbled it on a piece of paper.'

'Why'd you do that for?' I snap.

'If he didn't look as though he'd knock me down if I refused, I would've walked away on the spot. And besides, I think it's kinda important otherwise he wouldn't take the trouble visiting Kainandai University after having a tough game with their basketball team,' Jin's explanation doesn't comply with anything specious. What does he think he's playing at giving away my number like it's a hotel brochure?

'Don't be crackpot bugger, Jin. You could've just given an invented combination of numbers, why not do that?'

'I didn't have much time to entertain that sort of idea. You can't imagine how odd it struck me. I was standing there in front of him like I was a hostage or something and when he asked me for your number I just gave it away without saying anything and off he went on his girly bike,' He says, forgetting the purpose of using periods between sentences.

'Well, thanks a lot. Now I'll just have to wait for his call because I've been looking forward to it. Great.' I say sarcastically.

'Ok, I'm sorry for having done something so stupid. But you shouldn't go squabbling over a cursed phone call. Just act cool like you've met him a thousand times before. He's just probably goin' to ask you a mindless question anyway.'

'Let's just hope that would be the case. Apology accepted.' I say. Man, Do I have to get bugged over silly phone calls?

'Sigh. Thanks. So, bye then?'

'Right. Bye.' I hang up.

I stare at the spatial void outside, trying to make sense of the world and all its contingencies. One more step out of its ordinary bounds and I'm going insane, crazy as a mad cad in a lost dream world. I can't make anything out of the so-called order it harnesses upon its saddle. Or is there any order at all in this random array of things and events? What part do I play in that arrangement? What role is there available for Rukawa? Or that figure who haunts me?

Silence. Rrrring...rring...rrring..

Oh, Rukawa.

TBC 


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

Warning: OOC, a couple of F words (Not that I try hard to sound discrete but some readers do get offended at times, like Rokawa...so I'm trying hard to sound nice for the nice people out there because it's really nice to be nice to the nice '--' kill me) and a few names that I don't own (check out the s.)

Disclaimer: I don't own SD boys, Inoue does. The events that follow are not included in the original plot but enjoy anyway.

I let the phone ring. 1 ring, 2 rings, 3 rings...Something in its wrenched, tiresome redundancy reminds me of the regular nothing to do days that I've spent alone in this room. Yeah, those are the days when I'm stumped for what to do, waiting for someone to give me a call. And now here's one,

5 rings, 6 rings, 7 rings, 8 rings and up,

'H-hello?' I splutter. A single feeling of dismay floats inside me; from Jin's warning, I can hardly suspect it's another person besides Rukawa.

'Kaede Rukawa here.' True enough, his voice springs out from the receiver. The same monotonous haughtiness, which can outmatch all the boasting and trash talk I can muster when I can shout aloud the phrase "I'm Kiyota Nobunaga, the best rookie in Kanagawa!", mingles with the voice from the other end. If there's someone who brags about his hoops harsher than I do, it's not Hanamichi Sakuragi; it's Kaede Rukawa. The mere smug look on his face is a telltale of superfluous pride raging behind those eyes, dying to free itself to hurl out the words, 'You can't stop me, you can only HOPE to contain me!'

'Yeah, I know. What d'you want?' I snap.

'An interview.'

Great. Kaede Rukawa, the cocky prince of I've-got-what-you-don't snobbery, is calling for a one on one interview with Kiyota Nobunaga, the best rookie of Kanagawa and second ace of Kainandai high school basketball team.

What kind of questions might he be asking me?

'Is this a joke?' I ask. It's unlikely that he'd pull the sort of trick on anyone considering the nature of his mood, but Rukawa doing stuff for academic purposes is 50,000 times more odd. Not that it intrigues me to find out how well he does in school but it's unthinkable that he gets good grades or even cares about it.

'No.'

'Then what's this for?'

'Personal needs.' He answers. And what kind of information concerning me is intertwined with his interests? Surely, we're both in love with the same thing; BASKETBALL. The best invention of humankind serving as the coercive plexus that brings together the multitude of talents hitherto hidden among the youth, like me and him. How I love this game. But what do I know about the sport that Rukawa does not?

'Yeah, right.'

'Shall we start then?' He asks. I can feel the absence of any clutter around him; he's probably holing up in his room too with the receiver between his ear and shoulder. Having no one to bug on a sultry, gray afternoon he decides to call me instead.

'Hold your horses. You think I'll just prowl around with you with that kind of explanation you just gave me? What the hell d'you mean by personal needs? If you're trying to spy on Kainan B-ball team, go after Shinichi Maki because he's the one who knows all about the game.'

'Not about basketball. About YOU.' He says.

'About Me? Heck, why me?'

'Because you got IT in you.' He answers in the same lifeless tone.

'Of course I do. Why the fuck would I be the best rook in Kanagawa if I don't have IT in me?' I shoot back.

'Why aren't you speaking? Can't deny it, can you?' I ask, my temper rising to the summit of its scale.

And there's an unbearable silence until Rukawa speaks up.

'What color do you prefer?'

'Orange. What's-'

'Favorite perfume?'

'Hugo Boss, for men, for women, whatever,'

'Aftershave?'

'I don't shave,'

'Fave kicks' brand?'

'And1, are you-'

'Favorite dish?'

'Any, but no sea foods,'

'You watch NBA?'

'Natch,'

'Fave team?'

'New York Knicks,'

'Your idol?'

'Allan Houston,'

'You like flowers?'

'No. What's this all about?' I ask, finally able to catch up.

'Interview's over.' He says.

'Hey, no fair. You haven't answered my question. What was THAT all about? Is that the interview?' I ask, still groping in the dark.

'Yeah. You'll see.'

'Have you been hanging around our street lately and stalking me in the dead of night? Because it looks like you've been, really, the way you speak...makes you seem like a great freak to me...Anyway, just say it, say you're stalking me and I won't squeak a word to anyone,' I say. This time I summon up all courage to accuse the only suspect.

'I'm not. Bye.' And there's the busy tone.

I curl up beside my pillow thinking how stupid questions like that could be of help to anyone. I've been hard up all morning and this is what I get as a consolation. Gracious God. I can't make out whether Rukawa's telling the truth or not. I don't know if he has another quality aside from the drift wood behavior he's got; if he's another liar equipped with the usual cock and bull story for an excuse. I feel more restless as the ticking of the clock goes round the curve, time drifts unnoticeably like an unforeseen aging of a generation. I look at the room's aperture. It's completely dark outside and a lingering presence sweeps me breathless as it hovers with the mist beyond my walls. I never dare look at my window, I just know it is THERE again.

So Rukawa is probably saying the truth after all.

TBC 


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

Disclaimer: I don't own SD boys, Inoue does. The events that follow are not included in the original plot but enjoy anyway.

'You wouldn't believe what the skank just put me through last night,' I rant to Jin as he finds a nice spot to work out on his expertise; 3 point shooting.

'What?' He asks as the ball whizzes out of his clutches straight through the net that's welled around the plastic rim; 25 feet from the mark and his precision doesn't diminish in inverse proportion with his proximity. This is why Kainan has the best record in Kanagawa; summing up Maki's all around performance with Jin's impeccable perimeter shooting isn't something to look forward to. It's something to dread and fear once you're off to a match with them.

'Asked me a bunch of mindless questions, like what you said,' I say. He takes a break from his roll and looks around.

'Let's talk about it later. I don't think Maki's fond of chicanery during practice,' He says and picks up another ball.

'Right,'

I saunter across the court and pick up a ball lying forlorn on the shiny floor. Stepping on the foul line, I start to head for a graceful launch, stretching out my right arm and left leg to go for a horizontal voyage along the basket's clear and open path. As I near the target, I jab my fingers slightly to direct the steep projectile of the object's motion. I release it slowly and watch as it slides down deftly, unhindered by any living force meandering between the elements of successful potentialities. Simple. I hear the fast swooshing of leather against the corrugated threads of the basket's net as my leap begins to descend heavily; it's in. That is my favorite shot. The subtle art of pulling up a high-flying finger roll. Perfect for ensuring a two point advantage; not even Shoyo's Toru Hanagata can reject that shot.

'What do you call that?' Says a masterful voice behind me.

'A from-the-foul-line-lay-in sure shot. I invented it,' I say. There plays a malevolent glint under Shinichi Maki's eyelids, stabbing the very core of my under nourished pride. The whole team turns its gaze to our direction; here starts the minor issue of who's making the show for the day.

'Sure shot? I doubt if you can do that in a live game.' Maki sneers, still carrying the same bumptious air of expression that partly earned him the title the Star of Kanagawa.

'Er, well, it's solely devised for a, er, a fast break...you can't do that with 3 or 4 opponents around you so...' I stammer. How I wish I never made the shot at all.

'Correct,' He looks at me with the inimitable glance he throws at his subordinates, 'Now you're learning. And I presume you won't count on fast breaks to seal our victory?'

'No. not at all.'

'Good. Let's see you tear something up,'

'But-'

'You want to be chucked from the first line-up, boy? You better start doing as you're told,'

At that, I give in. Here we go again. Making a clown out of myself in front of the whole team. Shinichi Maki has this habit of heckling his players and trashing them later on a one on one match. I wonder if his gloating has something to do with his MVP character; if it suits his ego to humiliate less talented players or if it's just a way of releasing stress. How I hate this, and him for that.

'Ready? Don't get too antsy on me now. You should save your nerves for the Aichi boys,' He warns and hands me the ball. Great, now I got the first possession.

The court is suddenly cleared out of warming up bodies; everybody finds a nice spot to watch the show, all that's missing is popcorn and cola.

I start to do a fake glide to the left, cutting through his walled-up defense. He's a foot away from me, seeming keen on thwarting my movements, his knees bent in a guarding position and his left arm holding up against the movement of my driving shoulders. One high speed reach-in attempt from his right arm and I'm doomed to another comical scene here. I skip forward to make way to the basket. He does the reverse, stepping aside and turning on my back. I decide to go for a single handed slam and...smack. An invisible wave slaps the ball out my grip all the way to Shinichi Maki's hands. A block-steal. Alright, he's the man and I'm the clown.

'What was that?' He glares at me.

'I was goin' for a dunk, not anything showy but all I wanted is to score,'

'I know. And you bit the bait? I told you a hundred times before nobody's letting you score that easy. You should look behind if your opponent's fooling you. Just see what I got you in for.' He berates me with the same paternal tone I hear from coach Takato.

'Yes, captain.'

I don't take time savoring the misfortunes I had from the match. To tell the truth, it hurts to lose without a fight. In the blink of an eye, he's done it all; steal, block, score, screen, rebound, reverse, everything. And all I could do in the same span of time is to dribble.

We take a break. What a lucky day. I sit beside Jin who's looking intensely sympathetic. He must've known what kind of shit I've been going through for the last few days.

'You're okay?' He asks.

'Of course not,'

'Er, want to talk about it?' He says, grinning apologetically.

'No.'

'What about Rukawa?' He asks.

I tell him about the phone call in full detail; every word, every feeling, and every reaction displayed.

'Maybe I was over-reacting when I came to accuse him. I mean, I haven't a grain of proof that it's really him,' I say.

'Yeah, but asking questions like that IS something. You really think he'd admit it right away? No way. He wouldn't make himself a laughing stock saying he stalks you at night.'

'IT was there the moment I hung up on Rukawa.' I say suddenly, remembering the freezing humidity of the air last night.

Jin gapes.

'Listen, this is kinda gettin' into my nerves. It's affecting me like mad. My concentration in my game gets disturbed and...' I falter.

'We're goin' to Shohoku. We're gonna corner Rukawa and squeeze it out of him. I know it may not be him goin' after you at night but that doesn't erase the possibility of connivance; he might have something to do with it,'

'You'll do that for me?' I ask Jin earnestly.

'Hey, what are friends for?' He smiles.

Wow. Maybe I was lucky after all.

TBC 


End file.
